Starry Night
by Kinners
Summary: When the world seems to be crashing down about her ears, can the princess of the night find solace in something so simple as an honest stallion? Emotional two-shot, possibly more.
1. Chapter 1

What could possibly be imperfect about this?

A velvety, indigo sky stretched from horizon to horizon, bejeweled with white, shining stars of cold heat? The gaudy colors of broad daylight softened by quiet grays and gentle blues? Darkness and tranquility all around, so delicately woven across reality? In my eyes, it is beautiful and impeccable.

But why does nobody agree with me? Do they not see what I see?

I sigh, taking off from the tower balcony into the still air. Relishing the feel of my wings on the wind, I climb higher and higher so that I might touch the stars I had scattered in the sky. Their pinpricks of light are like tiny hopes in an infinite dark, a metaphor surely anypony could appreciate. Especially those who had lived through Discord's reign of chaos-oh, what am I saying? Those folk are dead and gone. Only me and my sister remember that ancient time of terror. Just like how only I am awake at this time. Doomed to forever wander a lonely, moonlit earth at daylight's end, with none to appreciate my work. Nothing has changed since my tyrannic reign as Night Mare Moon. Nothing, that is, except for me. My tantrum did not awaken anypony to the silence of night. All it did was let me blow off some steam...

I shudder, despite the mild temperature at my cruising altitude. I do not know why I refer to that event so casually. What I had almost done is unthinkable. Now I understand that there must be a balance between sun and moon; and that if it means I must withhold my frustration, so be it. It is unfair for me to take out my bitterness upon the subjects that I so forcefully begged to love me.

Is it? After all, when it all comes down, it is their fault that I became that terrible mare of darkness. If they had only accepted me, loved me as they do my sister-

"Stop it," I growl, squinting my eyes shut. I subconsciously begin to fly faster, as if I can run away from the darkness inside of me. But I try to quell it, keep it hidden, let the darkness fester in my soul rather than emerge vengefully and hurt more innocents. It churns in my gut, swirling like a stormcloud, like my mane and tail did that night where I had tried to imprison my sister forever.

"_You_ did this, not them!" I tell it. "Thinking like that will not help! Don't hurt them! _You're_ the monster, not..

"...me."

I land without noticing I have, touching down somewhere in the Everfree forest. The irony of my conversation with myself has me in a trance, in which I stay for an uncountable amount of time. But when I do come to consciousness, I am in for a shock. The gnarled shapes of the trees, innocent in daylight's truth, seem to be contorted painfully in the stark shadows. The horrible faces of my nightmares loom out at me-though it is truly one face, and but one Night Mare. I am looking in a cursed mirror, unable to turn my gaze from those draconic eyes, full of ancient bitterness and wrathful hatred. Somewhere inside me I know that they are not truly there, but that doesn't mean they can't frighten me. No wonder Equestria fears and shuns my night. It is as frightening as it is beautiful.

"I-_I_ did this," I stammer, as pitifully as a filly hiding under the bed from my abominable alter ego. Breathing rapidly and shallowly, I look down, shaking at the revelation. Night Mare Moon is more than just the cruel aftereffect of being overshadowed. Night is as much of a multiplicity as I am-soft and beautiful under light, but a dark terror when that light is not present. But I don't want to be this way. I want to be kind and gentle all the time, like Celestia. I just want everypony to forget who I was and see who I am now!

I actually don't realize I'm saying this out loud.

But somepony does.

"_I_ see you who you are now."

I look up with a sharp intake of breath, as I had believed that I was alone. At first I don't see anypony-just a pair of luminescent yellow eyes. But realizing that I can't see him in the dark, he steps out farther into the moonlight. It's a pegasus, with a pelt and mane so dark a color he was virtually invisible in the shadows. He folds his wings back nervously, bowing before me. I roll my eyes at the gesture-although inside I find it a shameful reminder of the fear I receive in adoration's stead.

"Rise, pegasus," I command. He does so with a fluid grace one finds more often in regal unicorns rather than brash pegasi. I am intrigued.

"What brings you to the Everfree Forest at such an hour?" I ask. "Do you not loathe and fear the night?" As everypony else does?

"Well, what would I do that for, your highness?" he queries, smiling tentatively...yet honestly. "I think...I think it's beautiful."

"_What?_" I echo incredulously. Beautiful-after what I had just discovered about how horrific my deceptive night is? "I mean...in what fashion?"

"It just _is!_" he went on, his eyes going up to the stars and stepping farther out to bask in the moonlight. In its light, his pelt is now revealed to be a very dark cerulean...just like the sky on a moonless night. His mane and tail truly are black, but they catch the starlight with an iridescent shimmer. He spreads his wings to embrace my moon's full glory, sheer, quiet joy shining through his eyes like searchlights.

"Would you look at that?" he breathes half to himself, reveling in the night lights. "A rich blue sky, speckled with diamonds? The outspoken neons of daylight replaced by soothing tones of silver and indigo? Quiet dark all around, undisturbed by the noise and bustle of the waking hours? What could possibly be imperfect about this...this _majesty?_"

I realize that I'm leaking tears, and discreetly wipe them away with a deft flick of my wing. Never before has anypony truly appreciated me. Such honesty I have never beheld in that same statement.

"I only wish I could fly up and touch those stars," he sighs, his wings drooping. I tilt my head in curiosity; he is staring at them forlornly for a reason I cannot discern.

"You...cannot fly?" I assume, shocked myself at the notion. His wings are not paralyzed-what could possibly be the reason for this? "Would you care to explain this to us?"

"They found out when I was just a colt," he begins, sitting back on the silvered grass. "They test newborn pegasi for a condition known as Cloudfall Syndrome. I couldn't walk on clouds-as the name implies, I simply fell through, same as an earth pony. I had to live on the ground. I never learned to fly, I just couldn't. They were no different from anypony else's, but my wings wouldn't carry me. As one could imagine, I wasn't exactly popular for this. They called me Starless...I guess the name stuck."

I find myself sitting next to him, putting a reassuring wing around him. What good are wings that don't fly? And what good is light that nopony sees?

"But it's okay, I guess," he continues, shrugging. "I've gotten used to it by now. So...what do you think causes it? Nopony knows, it's just a random thing that happens once in a lifetime. Alicorns are wise, aren't they? What do you think?"

I pause. I have an inkling, but it may or may not be accurate-well, believable by a modern pony.

"We believe that the problem lies within," I begin. "The ability to fly and walk on clouds is granted to Pegasi because of the cloud essence in their blood. If you cannot do these things, then we must assume that you have none in yours."

"We have clouds inside us?" he gasps. "I thought that was just an old pony's tale."

"So was the tale of Night Mare Moon," I point out. I am surprisingly calm, possibly because I brought it up in the first place, but Starless tenses. One cannot find him at fault.

"So that's my problem, huh?" he sighs. "No way to get clouds back into my veins, is there?"

"Do not speak so soon," I purr, backing away from him. I have another idea-but this time I am more sure of it. "Not by modern medicine, perhaps. But if the old theories are true, then so should be the old remedies."

"What are you doing?" he asks, getting up and flapping his dead wings nervously. Now a few strides away from him, I bow my head so that my horn is pointing directly at him.

"Be still, fair Starless," I chide, bracing myself for the ancient magic I am about to conduct. "We are granting thee thy flight."

Strands of starlight streak down from the heavens and gather in a ball about my horntip, and the wind begins to build in a small cyclone around us. Starless's eyes widen, and his stance strengthens in anticipation of the catastrophic event about to occur. At first I struggle to remember the old words of the ancient spell, but as if by magic, they come to me unbidden.

_"Quae ego praecipio vobis_

_Virtus impertiri **nubes!**"_

A bright flash of light dims the stars themselves, and I close my eyes against the brilliance. When it fades to a bearable level, I open my eyes. Starless is panting and steaming-literally. But there is something visibly different about him.

"Starless...," I breathe. "Behold thyself."

Opening his eyes cautiously, he looks back at his wings. He gasps in astonishment; they are covered with shining white pinpricks of light. Looking around himself, he discovers the stars are all over him, gracefully complementing his crescent moon cutie mark. I did not expect such a thing as the stars, in all honesty. Such arcane powers have not been used for many a moon. I did not think they would have such beautiful side effects as the stars in his pelt. They even seemed to shine and twinkle with every move he made, however subtle. He gives a little yelp of joy, levitating into the air with the aid of his newly operational wings. When he realizes they are willingly flapping, he gazes at them for a long time, awe and shock written all over his face.

That moment is frozen in my mind: Starless hovering for the very first time, staring at his wings.

"_Thank you, Princess!_" he shrieks, tackle-hugging me. I exhale a little from the impact, but I return the embrace, smiling sheepishly. He lets me go, hovering in midair with a smile so brilliant it could've been mistaken for one of his pelt stars.

"But I don't think Starless would be a fitting name for me anymore," he says. "I guess the bullies back at school would have to come up with a new nickname. But honestly, I just don't know what to make of myself anymore."

"Then we dub thee Starry Night," I proclaim royally, striding forward and placing my horntip on his shoulder. "Gifted by the Moon to soar forevermore, no longer earthbound, but free as the wind itself!"

Stepping back, I see that his own eyes are brimming with tears of joy. Revving his wings, he bolts straight up into the sky, his camouflage soon making him indiscernible from the rest of the night sky.

"Fly, fair Night," I whisper, now openly weeping. "May thy friendship be a beacon to us during our times of doubt. May Night Mare Moon remain a filly's nightmare, never to be realized as a threat to us or our subjects again!"

As I say the words, I know that this pegasus' appearance to me is a true blessing upon me. I no longer have to fear myself. There is a starry night always there to light my path.


	2. Chapter 2

Time to do this.

I trot up to the cliff's edge, my usual vertigo dispelled by my newly operational wings. Only precious months ago my wings had been dead, useless, unable to carry me into the sky where I belonged as a pegasus. But I had been given a gift by the Princess of the Night-a gift that I cherished more than anything I had ever possessed.

I stop at the edge, glancing down at the high drop. Feeling my gut churn, I instead turn my gaze up into the sky. The perfect, gorgeous, immaculate night sky. Whenever I was scared or nervous or lonely, I always looked to the night sky. Stars scattered across a divine blue canvas, the calm of nighttime soothing the world as it slumbered peacefully. And, more beautiful than ever, a pearly crescent moon washing the earth in exquisitely gentle silver. I could never begin to amply describe such as sight, nor imagine why anypony would carelessly overlook it. I sympathize with Luna, and her plight with her inner darkness. Always as a colt I had tried to prove myself with my dead wings, and time and time again I had failed. Frustration was no new thing to me.

But victory was.

I take a deep breath of the clean night air, closing my eyes as I let the night wind embrace me. I lean into it, letting my front hooves rise off the ground as my wings instinctively angle themselves to make up for the imbalance. I'd been practicing every night since my flight was granted to me, but I hadn't attempted _this_ stunt for real. Only drills after drills, nocturnal schedules, and perpetually aching wing muscles for months. But now it's time to prove to myself-and to Luna-that I deserved to fly.

I spring off of the ledge, swooping slightly and arcing back over my own trail in a loop-the-loop. I slow down for a moment as I begin to point earthward, adjusting my flight path with miniscule changes of posture so that I won't undercurve and plow back into the top of the cliff. Completing my loop, I pull my wings into a dive, allowing gravity to increase my velocity for me. Trying to flap my wings in order to accelerate would only cause me to lose more speed by making irregularities in my streamlined figure. But that's not to say that diving is a hay ride-it takes your utmost concentration to focus your body in that position for an extended period of time. I'd learned that the hard way the first time I attempted a dive straight down the cliffside...long story. Broken bones. Not fun.

I pulled up just before I reached the treetops below, the air displaced by my maneuver rippling across the leaves with a sound like a blizzard. I soared up into the sky at a taxing angle, now having to pump my wings to keep my speed up. For this trick, I had to push myself to my limits, defy physics even. At the point where I thought my wings would snap from exhaustion and my lungs would burst from trying to sap oxygen from the thin upper air, I looped again and dove.

If the first dive sounded like a tough thing to pull off, let me tell you something: compared to what I did now, that was a walk in the park. At my velocity, the air resistance was so so strong that when I tried to breathe I almost drowned from having too much air forced through my nostrils at once. My sides heaved, my lungs churning like engines and burning the part, too. I could tell that at the speed that I was going, friction was about to win the force battle versus gravity and send me cartwheeling off into the sky. My wings flapped like they were trying to escape a changeling swarm, and it was all I could do to squint my eyes open against the wind.

"Come on," I whispered, though my words were carried away by the onrushing air. A thousand molecules of wind pierced my face and my front hooves, yet another factor urging me to give in to the building pressure. I can feel it now, the fragility of my biological form compared to the undeniable forces of the physical world. I couldn't possibly think that _I_ could do the impossible, do the thing forbidden by the laws of the world I found myself in. It was simply impossible, what I was asking of myself and my body. I couldn't win...not Starless.

But I felt the moonlight on my flank. It siphoned its celestial energy into me, spurring me on. Luna was up there, watching me, begging me to keep going, just a notch faster. I thought of the Night Mare within her. What if it should ever surface? Who could she go to, when all else failed, if I myself could not defy everything and do this?

"_Come on!_" I screamed. Nopony.

"**_COME ON!_**"

The world itself bends to my will in one deafening snap of untouchable glory.

I shoot upward suddenly, my spine somehow not cracking under the astronomical pressure acting on me. I'm just as fast if not faster than before, but now the resistance is gone, instead diverting around me like a blessed wind tunnel. Shining from somewhere behind me comes an iridescent shine, from seemingly nowhere. I manage to turn my head around to see what I had caused.

A kaleidoscope had blossomed from the point from which I had broken the laws of physics. Minty greens, royal violets, flowing pinks, thoughtful silvers. Shimmering in the very air, and spreading across the sky at half my current speed. Streaming from my rear end was a white hot streak, like a comet's tail. I can feel its heat on my back hooves, now urging me on rather than holding me back. A sonic borealis.

I did it.

I'm as high now as Canterlot castle far in the distance, the air so thin that I feel lightheaded. The stars feel so close now, like I could touch them. I am one with the sky, the wind, the night air. I've never felt so happy in my life. How could this night possibly get better?

Somepony flew up next to me. The only pony who had both the duty to stay up through the night and the aerial skill to be this high up and not pass out.

"_Princess?_" I breathe in disbelief. She smiles at me kindly, the starlight sparkling in her aquamarine eyes.

"Please, fair Starry," she insists, voice as gentle as the moon's pale rays. "Call me Luna."

She beckons me with a shallow bank to the left. I follow her in a trance, still at scarcely subsonic speeds after my feat. She alights on a cloud, a slightly wispy one at that because of our altitude. But it is still solid under her hooves. I do a small loop to put out my comet's tail, then land next to her, bowing hastily.

"There's no need for that," she chuckled casually. I blushed a little, resigning to sit beside her. "we are friends, are we not?"

"You could say that, I guess," I panted awkwardly. Suddenly the fatigue of it all hits me. My wings feel heavy as lead, but three times as sore. I give a little moan, stretching them out in order to try and return some vaguely positive feeling to them rather than the numbing pain. Luna reaches a hoof out, stroking my feathers soothingly. At her touch a ripple of peace spreads through my wing. I can't tell if it's unicorn magic or not, but it's definitely some kind of magic.

"Thanks, Luna," I sigh contentedly. "Guess I didn't think I'd burn out that fast. I wasn't born this way, as you well know."

"You may as well be, for your talent," she complimented honestly. I blushed even more and lowered my head, though I smiled fit to burst. "I know of but one pony who is your match in the sky, and she has had years of practice. You have had mere months, yet you succeeded in the impossible."

"You talk about me like I'm a war hero or something," I mumbled, digging in the cloud absentmindedly with my hoof. "I'm nothing special. I'm just a pegasus who happens to be able to fly good. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be _that_. You're so much greater than I am, Luna. You're a princess, you can fly_ and_ use magic, you raise the moon every night like it's nothing-you can do _everything_. I'm just your ordinary run-of-the-mill pony. You're so...perfect. I'm just...me."

Then she did the unthinkable. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"You _are_ something special," she said softly into my ear as she pulled back. She was blushing worse than I was a moment ago. My mouth is hanging open, my heart pounding in equal parts elation and disbelief. "You can do something that no other pony has been able to do. You've given me hope. Hope that things can be better. That everything will be okay."

She's tearing up, but she tries to blink back the salty droplets. I realize that she's never opened up like this to anypony, not even her sister. I scootch closer, putting my hoof on hers. Slouching like a scared filly, she turns her eyes on me, asking me the unaskable question.

Who was I not to answer my princess?

"It _will_ be okay," I murmured, putting a wing over her shoulders. The effort of reaching up that high with my sore wing is nothing to me-not for her. "I promise. I'm here for you, Luna."

I pull her closer to me, kissing her back. Just a peck, but still containing a taste of ozone and a volt or two. She leans into me, releasing a breath I hadn't realized she'd been holding. We both breathed easy, for what felt like the first time in forever.


End file.
